Hot Rod Cowgirl

The Tale Of A Wyoming Buffalo On Top Of Pinon Ridge…

16 Dec 2013 14 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Wild Bill, Wyoming Tags: Green River Lake, Horses, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscape, Lifestyles, Photography, Upper Green River, Weather, Wild Bill, Writing, Wyoming

The tale of a Wyoming Buffalo, up on top of Pinon Ridge is one of those stories you live for and live to tell. I know it’s long but it’s worth it! Many of the photos that I have are not digital so the quality is not great…but the heart is:) Most of the photos will enlarge if you click on them…I added several landscape photos with incredible views so you can see the Wyoming I knew and loved…

I was not ready to pose for a picture when WB snapped this…looks like I am saying huh? He took this photo of me with my hair blowing to show the Wyoming Noon Express also known as the Wild Wyoming Wind! I had hurricane strings on all my hats when I was riding my horse or out and about…so hang on tight as here we go…with the tale of a Wyoming Buffalo up on Pinon Ridge.

It was barely daylight that late July morning when I unloaded my partner out of the horsetrailer, Lottie was big eyed as she looked around taking it all in, this was her third ride with me up Pinon. She had been in Wyoming about six weeks…the first month she was corralled until she was acclimated to the altitude. Then we took many slow and easy rides to build her stamina and overall health…she was doing great and she loved gathering cows!

We planned to meet where the Green River begins at the base of Square Top Mountain and Green River Lake (above) with our fellow cattle ranchers and neighbors to gather cattle for the twelve ranches we represented.

The ranches we rode with belonged to the Green River Drift or the Upper Green River Cattleman’s Grazing Association. A grazing association is a group of cattle ranchers who have permits to graze their cattle on public land for the summer months. Each ranch provides a cowboy for the summer to stay with the cattle once they reached the high country. The cowboys check the cattle daily, looking for illness or injury etc. and on this particular morning, we were meeting up with the cowboys to move the cattle to higher pastures up behind Yellowstone Park.

I tightened up the cinch and checked my gear out, while WB was saddling his horse next to me and doing the same. Lightning was dancing and flashing all around us as the thunder cracked overhead, playing crescendo after crescendo with ba-booms that drummed into a “Wild Wyoming Rumba In The Sky!”

I looked forward to the day as WB was able to ride with me gathering cows, however when your hubby is the ranch manager/foreman things can happen…one of our bosses arrived with several Argentina kids that were visiting the US to play polo at his ranch, in Jackson Hole. I looked at WB and then we both looked at Bob, who was the elder cowboy on our outfit, and before I could ask him, he looked at me and said “GO, get gone girl and get going…hurry up go, before you get stuck here, and miss out on riding and gathering!” I took his advice quickly as Lottie and I trotted off to join the group…I didn’t know our neighbors that well yet but Lottie and I caught up with them and we were off for a new adventure, new scenery, incredible scary weather and treasured memories of living on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, at the base of the Continental Divide!

Lottie and I, heading out to check cows here in Oregon on our mountain ranch…she was an amazing horse…so pretty and smart…calm, dependable and laid back but give her a cue and hang on as she moved like a cat when it came to cutting cows. My Dad would get so tickled and laugh at her as she would be in the pasture moving cows by herself so she could cut them out of “her” herd!

Wild Bill watched as our group rode up Pinon, climbing around 1500′, with lightning strikes all around us, it was something else to see! He saw jagged strikes hit the ground starting several small fires…about the time he was ready to call attention to it, the falling snow put out the fires as fast as the fire had begun. As we pushed on, the snow began coming down harder with a slight breeze that was blowing snow in my face…I pulled my Wild Rag up higher to cover my face up to my eyes, and pulled my cowboy hat down. I could not see the perimeter around me, due to the intensity of the snow, I could only see the cattle in front of me and Lottie’s ears.

I didn’t know the lay of the land or where we were going, I figured the cows would know where to go as they had summered here before so we stayed with the cows as we disappeared into the clouds of brilliant white lightning and snow, with rumbling cracks of thunder that boomed above us. WB and Bob took the Argentina group for a trail ride away from us so they would not accidentally spook the cattle we were gathering. Fortunately they were low enough that the storm and blizzard missed them, they had a little rain but not much.

We kept on climbing with our heads down and eyes squinting, gathering and pushing cows as we climbed higher. I continued to look both right and left for my neighbors…all I saw was a very serious snow storm with lightning strikes way to close!

This photo was taken earlier in June, it is about a quarter of the way up Pinon…looking back at Square Top and Green River Lake and the Green River flowing below…the country in Wyoming was HUGE! Amazingly huge!

The further we climbed, the harder it stormed and boomed! I found myself in a surreal world with near white out conditions, in the middle of summer…the end of July no doubt…while back home in Eastern Oregon my family was in wheat harvest and it was 105 degrees!

It was a total mind trip as I wondered if I had ridden into a parallel universe or something? I kept moving cows, hoping to break over the top.

Thankfully we rode into a lush green meadows up behind Yellowstone Park, the sun came out, the clouds parted and disappeared…just like that, we were out of the storm and my neighbors were either there or right behind me! Lottie and I sat looking at the incredible scenery and the cows we gathered…we had gathered a large bunch despite the storm. It was about 10:30 in the morning as we all sat on our horses drying out, basking in the warm sunshine while we watched the herd. One of my neighbors rode over to introduce himself and talk a bit and dry out…and then he said to me, “Hey look, whats he doing?”

I looked and said “Who and what is he doing?”

My neighbor said, “Hey, yeah…it’s Sam, (who rode for our ranch) and he’s chasing after a buffalo in the herd.”

“WHAT?” I figured it was tease the newbie from Oregon…ha-ha…so I carefully asked him “Oh come on, are you sure its a buffalo?”

“Yep, I’m sure!” He figured it to be a young, maybe 3-4 years old but still sizable…we watched as Sam roped the Buffalo, while a bunch of cowboys and cowgirls gathered around to see what he was doing…and then my neighbor said “Hey, let’s go see what’s up.”

Sam had the Buffalo roped and down. A few cowboys helped him by catching the heels and several cowboys got off their horses to help, as now they had the Buffalo strung out. With the risk of Brucellosis developing, it was felt that the Buffalo had to be castrated to protect the cattle herd. No one said a word…not one word. I sat on Lottie watching the story unfold…wishing I had a camera and something to write on! Silence fell like a veil on us and time was suspended…finally one of the neighbors got off his horse and said “Look, we can’t do this, I’ll come unglued if you do this.”

Without a word, the cowboys dropped their ropes that held the Buffalo down…the Buffalo was a good size and he was mad! I knew what was coming…I asked Lottie to roll back and turn, moving it like “Sue Sally” as we galloped away!

I looked back over my shoulder wishing I had a video camera as it was a “Real Life, Charlie Russell Painting!” Once the Buffalo was free from the ropes, he got up snorting and madder than heck…he began charging towards the horses, and the cowboys yet on the ground. Several horses took off dragging lasso ropes, spooking themselves as well as other horses who by now were bucking and running to get away from the beast while the cowboys were running on foot as fast as they could away from “Psycho Buffalo!” Lottie and I galloped out of there in record time heading for the high country…at 11,500′ how much higher can you go? I didn’t know or care as we ran fast and thankfully escaped the crazy chaos!

About 30 minutes later we all gathered back again in the meadow and rode off the mountain quietly…thinking of our day so far…it was noon and we were headed for home, back down Pinion Ridge on that crazy day the end of July.

About half way down Pinon, one of my neighbors said “You know, I was born and raised here in Wyoming and that storm this morning was the worst one I have ridden through!” I could not believe it! I figured the storm must not be bad as no one said a word, they just buckled down and rode through it like me…ha! We made it through one of the worst storms on the Upper Green…me and Lottie. I miss her, she was my girl and my partner…we were a team and had a great time together in the 20 years I had her. She was a triple bred Leo mare and she was incredible…a deep red sorrel, except for her white blaze on her face, and three white socks. I would love to find another one just like her.

Once I made it to the trailer and my man, Wild Bill, I hopped off Lottie and hurriedly told WB about the Buffalo and he rolled his eyes and hooted on me. He thought I was teasing him so he would not listen to me…I said “No it’s true!” He said “Oh sure, I don’t get to go and you see a Buffalo” and I said “Yes I saw a Buffalo” he said “Yeah right”….so I marched over to my neighbors and said tell ’em….and they did, while they were hooting and laughing at both of us!

The reason for the concern about the Buffalo, was due to disease. Buffalo will breed cattle and they carry a deadly disease that can wipe out your entire herd of cattle called Brucellosis. We called the Fish and Game as soon as we made it home that day…and they dealt with the angry Buffalo up on Pinon Ridge…all on a typical day, gathering cows in Wyoming in one of the most beautiful places on earth!

A few footnotes on Sublette County and the Upper Green River Drift:

We lived in Sublette County which was the least populated county in the United States…Wyoming was the least populated state in the United States and we lived 8 miles from a very small town!

Local ranchers have grazed cattle on public land for more than a century in the Upper Green River Valley. Each spring, cattle are driven north to their pasture allotments and when it gets cold in the fall, the cattle begin to drift off the mountains to head home for the winter. The twice a year cattle drives have become known as the Green River Drift.

Ranchers who are members of the Upper Green River Cattle Association can be found moving herds of cattle south down the Green River Lakes road during the fall months, to the staging area next to Trapper’s Point monument area about 5 miles west of Pinedale. The large groups of cattle are then moved to the cutting grounds where each rancher’s cattle are sorted out by brand into their respective herds, to be driven in smaller cattle drives back to the home ranches. Our ranch where we lived was down on the flat meadow ground that you see as that was my view of Gannet and the Wind Rivers.

In the 1890s, the first cattle associations were formed in the Upper Green River Valley as a result of extremely harsh winters that decimated local cattle herds. The Big Piney Roundup Association was formed in 1890. In 1916, the Upper Green River Cattle and Horse Growers Association was formed. The name was changed to the Upper Green River Cattle Association in 1925. In the 1930s, the association added driveways which allowed them to bypass private land and more easily funnel cattle to desired pasture areas. For more than a hundred years, local ranchers have worked with government entities to manage the range allotments and cattle use with the best management practices possible. The Green River Drift, cutting grounds, and driveways have been a part of the valley’s history for so long now some people have suggested they be considered for historic recognition and designation.

As I close for now, here is where the Green River begins…it flows out of Green River Lake…and begins its winding way to the Colorado River. Square Top mountain is in the background…I often rode above it and could look back and look down to find it as it was so level. Pinon Ridge represents a pivotal ridge due to the three main water ways it represents. Depending on which side the waters flow from rain drops or snow melt, it will either flow to the Columbia River or the Colorado River or the great Mississippi River. Some call it Three Waters Mountain or Ridge…I first heard this the first time I rode up Pinon and it was raining! I loved it!!!

May you all have a blessed week wherever you are! Minnie is having a Mommy and me moment! HRCG over and out…10-4 good buddy!

This is a special mountain: at its summit converge three major watersheds. Every year during the late spring or early summer, a pile of snow at a certain place on this mountain melts into three distinct basins. When water from one basin finally reaches the ocean, it will be well over a thousand miles distant from the mouths of the other two basins. – See more at: http://www.usends.com/Explore/Elevations/3WM/index.html#sthash.0BimcudI.dpuf

Meltwater eventually trickles into Fish Creek, which is a tributary of the Gros Ventre River, which flows into the Snake River, which in turn flows into the Columbia River, which enters the Pacific Ocean near Astoria OR. The far side of Pinon Ridge, however, drains into the Roaring Fork, which flows into the Green River, then the Colorado River, which empties into the Gulf of California, which meets the Pacific Ocean way down somewhere between Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – some 2000 miles down the coast from Astoria. – See more at: http://www.usends.com/Explore/Elevations/3WM/index.html#sthash.iupIQ4SI.dpuf

Wyo Why Wyoming Oh My Wyoming!

06 Dec 2013 29 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Cattle Ranch, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Wyoming Tags: Heritage, Horses, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscape, landscape views, Life Scenes, Lifestyles, Photography, WB, Weather, Wild Bill, Wyoming

Wyo Why Wyoming Oh My Wyoming…became our song as we prepared to move to Wyoming to manage a vast cattle ranch of 100,000 acres. As I progress along with different Wyoming stories, I’ll show you my first look at where we were to live on the ranch…thankfully the Continental Divide was right behind the house and that is what I looked at…WB knew the mountains out my door would capture me…and it did for several months as we waited to move into our home.

The photos above and below were taken of my mare Shez Alotta Leo, “Lottie” with “my daily take my breath away view”. Behind her are the Wind River mountains, or the Continental Divide, and Gannett Peak. I could also see the Wyoming Range in front of Lottie and the Sawtooth Range behind the ranch as well…mountains surrounded us with the stunning raw beauty of the landscape wherever we went.

I loved Wyoming…it was a cowgirl’s dream. I never grew tired or bored with watching the mountains and the ever changing scenery of the awe-inspiring Continental Divide. We chased flood irrigation on the meadow that first summer, and could not stop staring at this view…it was incredibly surreal to be so close to such rugged beauty that you often wondered if it was a giant painting…guess now that I think of it, it was a giant painting, designed and painted by God above! Gannett was the highest peak in Wyoming and depending on the light of day it was both majestic and mysterious…what a view we had to look at!

Whether I was washing the dishes looking out my window at the Rockies or on horseback moving cows in various Wyoming weather, the views always took my breath away…I lived with a permanent jaw dropping, breathless “Wow” look on my face.

We lived at 7500′ elevation with beautiful clear skies that were a different color and depth of blue during the daytime, while the nighttime sky was filled with stars and different galaxies and more stars, it was spectacular. Due to the higher elevation of where we lived, we did not have air and dust pollution so the skies day and night were clean, clear and pristine. And Lottie is still coming to see me…her white blaze gives her away!

The small community we lived close to was like going back to the good old days where a man could trust in a handshake as truth and a man’s word was a man’s word. From day one we were welcomed into the community and felt like we had lived there a long time…it was a good fit. The closest movie theatre was 40 miles from us in a huge quonset hut building called “The Flick”…the movies you wanted to see usually arrived about a year after they were hits at the box office.

If Lottie could talk, she would be saying “Where the heck are we and why?” The year before we managed a ranch in Central Oregon and Lottie and I had to worry about rattlesnakes…and from rattlesnake hell we arrived in Wyoming skunk country! We had a crabby black Manx named Kalamazoo who was around 14 years old and he got out one evening at dusk…I was outside for an hour with a flashlight calling for him…and then I saw him under the house they were remodeling and went closer and all of a sudden I realized it was black like Kalamazoo but…it had a bit of white on him too with a big bushy tail! I took faster than a speeding bullet steps…running back to the house where Zoo had showed up anyway…he did pretty good for being an older kitty and moving all over with us.

Storms in Wyoming, were incredible as they moved in quickly to storm and then they moved out as quickly…there were no cloudy, overcast, gray days. Yes we had wind chills of -40 degrees and wind that usually began around noon with plenty of snow and lots of snow drifts.

This is walking out of our house onto the front porch…typical winter morning…blowing snow, making drifts…and -30 degrees or more.

WB’s heading out to blow the snow off the road in the early morning. I often rode with him on the tractor to see what type of drifts the night or day had conjured up. I wish I had the digital camera that I have now…this was back before digital but close…these photos would likely be our old Cannon…I still have it:)

Our driveway into the ranch was about a mile long with barrow pit ditches on either side of it…often we had white outs from the wind and blowing snow…you could not tell where the road was! After getting stuck a few times trying to find it, we put up stakes painted with orange paint on top.

I took this photo when we were caught half way down our driveway home by a sudden winter storm, it came in fast with wind as well as a blizzard…typical Wyoming weather. WB had blown the driveway out earlier that morning and by 10:30am it had blown shut.

And here we ended up…WB was driving this time and once you get a tiny bit into a rut or in this case, snow that was drifting, its impossible to pull out of it…luckily we were almost home, but with the wind and wind chill factor and the white out conditions you had to be very careful…WB bundled up with everything we had with us, and I was a Nervous Nellie until I saw him coming back in the tractor blowing a trail to pull out our pick up “Red”…remember we name ALL our vehicles:)

Every morning during the winter snow months, WB had to blow open our road coming into the ranch as we had serious overnight snowdrifts that were deep and once again in the late afternoon so our son could get home from school in his Willy’s Jeep. Everyday the son would try to plow through the drifts in 4 wheel drive and get stuck so WB would blow the road open to where he was stuck, chain the Jeep to his tractor, pull the son out of the drift and continue to blow the road open, getting both son and Jeep home while blowing a trail home.

No matter what we had to deal with in Wyoming, it was all good to both WB and me…everyday was an amazing adventure:)

Happy Thanksgiving From Hot Rod Cowgirl!

29 Nov 2013 19 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Gratitude, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Thanksgiving Tags: Heritage, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscape, Photography, Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all who read my blog…I hope you had a wonderful day with your family and friends! Thanksgiving is a time to stop and look at the many blessings in our life the last year or even years…it’s a time of gratitude, a time to be thankful for the life we have and the life we live, a memorable time for family and happy times with friends.

I’m going to try something different with this post. My part of the post will be the photography. I will insert photos that fit well with the words from one of my favorite songs. When I was going through breast cancer, this song is the one I sang in my head whenever I went to surgery or saw my oncologist. It has always touched my heart deeply and I hope it does yours too.

Blessed Be Your Name

By Matt Redman

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

When I’m found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I will turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

When the sun’s shining down on me

When the world’s ‘all it should be’

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there’s pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I’ll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed by Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name!

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your glorious name!

By now you should be full of turkey and all the trimmings…trying to make room for desert and more desert! Wishing you a fun weekend shopping, decorating or just hanging out! We are to get snow beginning Sunday…with super cold temps as in 6 degrees at night with a ripping hot daytime temp of 15 degrees!

I have to comment on the flowers. Petunias are not perennials…and as soon as we get winter here they are gone. However the last two summers they have all come back into 6 of my patio barrels…and they came back beautiful! The summer of 2012, we were busy remodeling and the summer of 2013 the weather was colder in June so I was late in planting. By the time I was able to plant new flowers, I had petunias growing back by the bushel in my barrels!

May you be blessed by the joys of the season…HRCG over and out for now but never for long! I am yet working on the awards I was given…hoping to post them soon:)

And I’m off…stay warm and gobble gobble!

Dreams Call Softly…

09 Nov 2013 44 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscapes, Lifestyles, Photography, Uncategorized Tags: Heritage, Horses, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscape, Life, Lifestyles, Photography

Dreams call softly to my heart as autumn slowly slips by…

I love the colors and the beauty of the land in my simple world! My imagination runs away as I can see and hear two young boys, my Dad and his older brother, riding horses bareback out here…galloping along playing Cowboys and Indians teasing one another back and forth…simple dreams and imaginations of two young boys playing in God’s country.

Often our sunsets are full of fire with licks of flame in the clouds above, double-click on the picture and you will see the flames, and maybe Puff the Magic Dragon…incredible beauty on a typical autumn night.

Dreams are so much a part of us…as children we believe anything is possible, I’m Annie Oakley in this photo:) And yet as we grow up, we often loose the ability to dream as we have been told to grow up and work to earn a living. But we long for our dreams and no I am not talking about a bigger house or a new car, I’m talking about life dreams…the dreams of who we want to be or what we want to do with our life.

Often we can feel the dream but do not know what to do with it…sometimes its right in front of you but you can’t see it or can you? I struggle with that at times as I have many dreams for my life and for my life with WB.

Instead of pursuing our dreams we go with the flow of the life we live, eventually our dreams get pushed to the back of our life…we have too much to do and not enough time to get everything done as it is…so we put off our dreams for a few more months that turn into a few years as time passes by…

What are my dreams? I have several but the biggest dream I have is to write a book of my life and the various chapters I have crammed into a few years time. Mainly I want to write and develop my skill more and just write. I also want to shoot photos and learn how to take the best shots, with the eye and ability to do it automatically…and it’s game on:) I tend to do that now every time I pick up my camera as it fits my hand like a glove:)

My dreams of writing are not to be famous…I want to help others by sharing the wisdom I have learned in my life. I have lived through a zillion circumstances…both hard times and good times with some great stories to tell. I became a family counselor in 1995 and the last few years since I heard of EAGALA, I have been interested in using horses to counsel people, which would meld my love of horses to helping others heal their hearts and would be very cool:) Those are just a few of my dreams…and I have had them for a long time:)

Hang on to your dreams, don’t let life and work crowd in causing you to loose them, keep your dream in your heart and believe that someday it will come true:) I do believe our dreams are God given to give us hope as hope develops perseverance which develops our faith in the things we can not see. The greatest gift we can give to ourselves is to dream, believe and to never give up our hope that yes we can develop those God given dreams, they can come true:)

What is your hope and your dream…no matter how outside of the box?

As I take off for now….I leave you with a verse that has played through my head all day…see if you can figure out what song it goes to?

All the leaves are brown,

And the sky is gray,

I’ve been for a walk,

On a winter’s day.

I’d be safe and warm…

New Beginnings And Speedy Lickety-Split Endings

25 Oct 2013 48 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Family, Heritage, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography Tags: Clouds, Family, Heritage, Holton Secret Lab, Horses, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Juniper T Ranch, Landscape, Life, Lifestyles, Odd beauty, Photography, Traditions, Wild Bill, Writing

New beginnings and speedy lickety-split endings are part of life here as time passes by on planet earth…we have seasons of life much like the earth has weather seasons. There’s a time for everything…a time for hello and a time to say goodbye…a time to seed and plant the crops and a time to harvest in July…a brand new day begins each dawn and the end of day comes as the sun sets each evening. The last few weeks with the end of summer and the beginning of fall, beginnings and endings have been on my mind a lot, as time passes by so quickly…we get busy and forget to focus on the important people in our lives or the important blessings we have, until one day they are gone.

As I dwell on this simple truth, Ecclesiastes: Chapter 3: Verse:1-8, comes to mind as God spoke of a time for everything. I began to see how every part of our life has seasons or beginnings and endings. It’s how God designed life and yet, a new beginning comes and before we know it the ending sneaks up on us…from loosing those we love, to coming home after a week’s vacation, to giving birth, you blink and the baby is grown up with babies of their own…sometimes the ending comes with great pain and grief, while other times it comes with celebration upon college graduation with your diploma in hand…well deserved with true happiness!

I believe that life has a rhythm in all parts of it…a constant beat full of heart and passion with the joyful energy of our soul. Maybe because I love music and love to dance, counting double time or half time with ease, it makes sense to me that God would give rhythm to His earth and to our lives…two steps forward, one step back. The dance of life can be one of incredible joys, contrasted by times of great difficulties. Milestone moments in life can take our breath away, as we either accomplished our dreams or we lost someone or something very dear to our heart. It’s up to us how we choose to live our life and how we maneuver the times of highs and lows…as we keep dancing with all we’ve got.

I try to see the positive in life…the glass is half full and not half empty. I believe anything is possible when we put our mind to it…I laugh as I have said under my breath since I was in grade school “Where there’s a Marcy, there’s a way!” Even when things look their darkest, I hang on to my faith as I know but I know that somehow, someway, things will work out. Going through breast cancer 7 years ago was scary at times, but God told me I would survive and I knew if God said it, He meant it, and I believe it and that is that. We have many areas in our life today that we can not count on…but I know I can count on God with all my soul and all my heart.

This time of year for me is bittersweet as I lost my Dad in October and lost my Mom a year later in December. It doesn’t seem that long ago and yet it has been 16 years…the painful memories are softer now…but every year beginning in September, I begin to reflect on my life and the life around me, as I ponder the last year of our life here. Being a writer and a deep thinker, I process life circumstances deeply in my heart as I ask the hard questions and seek the truth of life events and how those events have effected me. After I ponder the last year in the innermost part of me, only then after I have come to some conclusion will my thoughts fall onto paper with sincere and sometimes crazy writers abandon. I ask lots of questions in order to wrap my understanding around whatever it is…but yeah…I seek the answers to life’s deepest, greatest and toughest questions. I know I will never know all the answers until I get to heaven someday, but I feel life deeply and think on things a long time…before I can give the answer to those questions.

As I am writing this afternoon, the light outside my window is full of golden softness as my world is filled with an amber glow, fall has truly fallen on Juniper Canyon. When I write I often look out on the land, watching the shadows of the clouds above, play on the landscape, making new odd shapes…and I remember old times, simple times and good memories. This week as I reflect more on memories of my parents, I can hear Dad’s voice in my head. One of the first times he was deathly ill, we called 911 for help…it was scary for all of us. I was very thankful we were not living in Wyoming, and instead lived next door allowing us to get there in a hurry if we were needed. Once Dad was stable and loaded into the ambulance on that clear blue sky morning, I sat with Dad while Mom and Bill got her jacket etc. for the ride to the hospital.

I noticed Dad was looking out and up the hill, and then he said “Have you and Bill decided if this ranch is home and is this where you will put down roots and grow old?” I was taken back with his direct question as my thoughts were not on Wild Bill and me…my thoughts were on Dad and Mom. I stuttered and stammered saying something like “Dad, I know this is home and yes we will put down our roots and build our life here.” He kept pondering his life and the landscape and said ” I sure hope I come back home again, as I will surely miss this place.” I hugged his neck and said to him “You will Dad, you will.” And he did many times, from several near death emergencies, over the next four years…his doctor told us “Your Dad is one tough cowboy.”

The crazy thing about our lives is that often we do not recognize the beginning of something great in our lives until the end of it. Growing up I lived on a vast cattle ranch, I did not understand that living on private land was a gift and a privilege of life. I thought everyone had a cattle ranch in the mountains and that we all owned land somewhere. I also thought everyone had a horse and lived the same life I lived! I had an active imagination growing up as I was taught that everything was possible if we believe…and today I still believe in the impossibilities of life:)

Learning to look at the glass half full instead of almost empty, was one of the simple truths of life my parents taught me…having a positive attitude instead of a bitter one has carried me through some tough times and still carries me today in my life, as I still have tough issues to deal with in our lives here.

Our lives are a gift to live with love, joy, hope and faith that tomorrow will come as it will. When one door closes and the season is over…you may feel a pang of sadness, but you know there is always hope for a new beginning and we will find it if we seek it out…as we will never give up! Beginnings and endings…sunrise and sunset…summer began and summer ended, as fall began. I felt a moment of grief for the warm days of harvest and the magical summers we live here and yet as soon as the moment passed, I saw the beauty of fall and I was at peace knowing this was the beginning of a new season that would be filled with wonder and home spun days of gold:)

I leave you with one of my favorite bible verses…it is so true as it is the heart of life!

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

May You Have A Fantastic Fall Weekend And A Fabulous Frivolous Friday!

Crimson Skies Of Amber Bring Golden Days Of Fall!

09 Oct 2013 14 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Clouds, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscapes, Photography Tags: Clouds, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Landscape, Lifestyles, Odd beauty, Photography, Sunrise, Sunset, Weather

Crimson skies of amber bring golden days of fall,

As God paints the celestial heavens above me with glorious light and vivid colors.

I love watching the magic in the skies just before dawn and just before sunset.

The heavens are full of glorious colors and ever changing magical light…

Clouds shimmering with layers of gold as they drift by over my head…

I grab my camera, hoping to capture what I am seeing, to share with you!

I am drawn into God’s creation outdoors but also in the animals I am blessed to love and care for…

My camera clicks away taking hundreds of pictures in order to capture that one incredible shot!

I can not put my camera down any better than I can put my pen down.

Seasons comes and seasons go but God’s beautiful world remains a constant, every day and every night, in my life here.

It is ever changing with different scenery…

Full of incredible moments that take your breath away, as you pause to take it all in!

May you have a blessed Fall as you enjoy the seasons of life and God’s amazing creation!

Life With Ms. Ellie, Horse Nuggets And Me!

05 Oct 2013 36 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Australian Shepherds, Dogs, Ellie, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography Tags: Animals, Australian Shepherds, Cats, Dogs, Ellie, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Minnie Mouse, Puppy Girl

Life with Ms. Ellie has been one of the greatest blessings and events of our life this summer.

Here she is at six weeks of age…before we brought her home. She is adorable and then some with her sweet eyes and fun disposition.

She is so smart and attentive to life around her.

Do you remember Kiah? She is the one in front in this photo from last summer. She is a half-sister to Ellie. They both have the same father. Kiah was super smart…hard to explain but she was smarter than Tucker and Dash…and they are smart. Kiah and Ellie are much more connected to you in relationship and they discern events before they happen…very intuitively smart…good watch dogs…and very protective.

And here is Ms. Ellie the day we brought her home, meeting Tucker, she was 9 weeks and very cute:) She snuggled in my lap the 6-7 hours it took to get home and never got sick…she immediately fit into our hearts:)

Sweet Little Ellie Bell!

And what is she doing but crawling under the fence to snag a horse nugget!

“Honest Mom…I’m only eating two-horse nuggets!”

“Mom I saw Ellie eat three nuggets!”

“Uh-uh no I only ate two really…look at my eyes, I love you Mom.”

And she was soooooo excited after the terrible storm we had that appeared to be some kind of funnel cloud that swept up millions of horse nuggets, depositing them in her yard just for her to have for snacking!

I love the way Ellie lays in the yard…her usual pose as she likes the feel of the cool grass under her…she is so cute:) Can you tell I’m a push over with my girl?

Ellie and I walk together for exercise and to burn off some of the puppy energy she has. Ellie is 15 weeks old now, you can see the maturity coming in her eyes.

And yet as we are heading out for our walk, passing by the arena, I feel a tug behind me on the leash…what? “Ellie, what are you doing….oh geez, more horse nugget snacks sidetracked her!” What is it about horse poop that cow dogs are drawn to? By the way notice her copper bottom is in the shape of a steer head…her little steer head bottom makes me smile no matter what! I loves her lots and lots! We are making many good memories together that I will carry in my heart forever.

Like the first time I took her to our vet for her next vaccination, she was about 11 weeks old. Wild Bill could not go with us that day, darn it! I could not drive and hold her on my lap to comfort her from the intimidating feeling of the Suburban. I had lots of rags just in case she got sick etc. Well about half way to town I smelled it…oh my gosh!!! She had pooped a very smelly one in the back of the Burb! She was so scared that it scared it out of her…I felt so sorry for her. I pulled over to clean it up but I did not have any paper towels or napkins…typical! I figured out a way to hold her in my lap and drove the rest of the way to town one-handed, as I worried for her being scared and was afraid she would walk in it! As soon as we got to the vet’s they had stuff for me to use to clean it up! Ahhhhh yes puppy love! Nothing like picking up smelly gooshy puppy poop with a thin paper napkin….eeeeew!

Minnie decided Ellie is ok…they give each other respect for being different, which is good. Ellie would love to play with Minnie, but I told her, NO, not until Minnie is ready…Minnie has to know you better. Yet Ellie will protect Minnie if she ever needs it as she looks at her as part of her family. That is the true heart of an Aussie…they love and protect their family.

Kiah would have loved Ms. Ellie too…she would approve. We miss you and love you forever Ms. Kiah:)

“Come on Mom, let’s go explore some more!” Ellie loves our walks as do I! And as I bring this post to a close, Minnie is in her chair with her heat pad on, all snuggled down on one side of me and Ellie is asleep on my feet as I type on the other side of me:) I love our animal babies….each and every one of them:) May you be blessed tonight, knowing that your animals love you and need you…have a wonderful tomorrow!

HRCG, her critters and camera are over and out for now…but not for long!

“I love those horse nuggets! Mom doesn’t know what she is missing!”

The Pendleton Round Up…Round Two!

04 Oct 2013 6 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Heritage, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, The Pendleton Round Up Tags: Animals, Heritage, Horses, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Lifestyles, Pendleton, Photography, Rodeo, The Pendleton Round Up, Traditions

The Pendleton Round Up…Round Two…Here We Go!

As you pass through the gates into the rodeo grounds, you immediately find yourself next to the South Grandstand, and as you look up towards the top of it, about half way down, you will see the Winner’s Plague. These cowboys and cowgirls were the winners in their events at the Round Up in 2012…the large plague proudly displays their names next to their events. Winning Pendleton is an honor as the rodeo is one of the top three rodeos along with Calgary and Cheyenne.

What sets the Pendleton Round-Up apart from the other great rodeos in America is its aesthetic. That word implies art, but also history and culture.

The first Pendleton Round-Up was to be “a frontier exhibition of picturesque pastimes, Indian and military spectacles, cowboy racing and bronco busting for the championship of the Northwest.” It turned out to be that and more. For the initial show, all stores closed. “The largest crowd in Pendleton’s history,” 7,000 strong, showed up for the first show on September 29, 1910, a newspaper writer reported. “The words ‘Pendleton’ and Round-Up’ are on the lips of thousands and will continue to be for months and years to come…The Round-Up is a whirlwind success.” Souvenir program from The 1913 Round-Up said the rodeo was growing. And grow it did.

Two decades later, patrons showed up from 36 states and eight foreign countries. The following two years the Round Up was not held, because of World War II, once the war was over, the attendance climbed again, eventually reaching 50,000 or more for the four-day show. “Success bred success and the Round Up stayed in high gear,” says the book “Let ‘er Buck! A brief history of the Pendleton Round Up.”

The key to the success of the rodeo and its many attendant activities is community participation – volunteers. Indian participation has been a strong attraction, too, in the Round-Up arena, at Happy Canyon, in the Indian Village and in the Westward Ho! Parade. Long before women’s lib, the fairer sex got into the act at the Round-Up – cowgirls in the early days of the Round-Up could be as tough as men. In 1914 Bertha Blanchette, wife of cowboy Del Blanchette, came within 12 points of winning the all-around title.

Midway through the Round Up’s colorful history, a Eugene newspaper summed it up with a characterization that remains applicable today: “In good times and bad, Pendleton has gone on with the Round Up. People over on the Umatilla have always been willing to take a chance. Maybe that’s the real cowboy spirit. Maybe it’s a little bit tougher brand of civic spirit. Anyhow, in Pendleton, the show goes on.”

Having volunteers who want to make a difference, while helping make the rodeo a success, makes Pendleton very unique It has often been said by the directors of both Happy Canyon and The Pendleton Round Up that the volunteers are the glue, as they strive to give their time to make the Round-Up the greatest rodeo on earth. Through the year the volunteers clean up the rodeo grounds and the barns, adding a fresh coat of paint where it is needed, and fix anything and everything that needs to be fixed.

And so it begins with slack on Monday of Round Up week. This year there did not appear to be as many contestants, as slack often will begin on Saturday or Sunday…by Monday morning it is in full-swing. This year it did not begin until Monday afternoon.

I enjoy going to slack in some ways more than the actual rodeo as you see true life…the last minute details coming together. Whether you are a contestant or on the Round Up board of directors or working on the arena crew, you work hard…making sure that everything goes off in sync, without a hitch.

The bucking chute crew is on stand by…but I bet they’re ready to go at the drop of a hat!

The chutes look a bit different on rodeo day!

Family and friends watching slack runs in the shade to escape the heat. This year Round Up week was hot, the usual breeze did not stir through the stands, so you watched the rodeo, fanning yourself with the program, while feeling beads of sweat rolling down your back or face!

Contestants also waiting in the shade, talking to old friends, trying to relax as they wait for their number to be called.

More cowboys are arriving…saddling up horses…and will soon be ready to go!

From a rather quiet slack day to a rock and roll rodeo day! Cowboys warming up in the confines of a much smaller space in the arena before their event.

I will have one more post on The Round Up…so stay tuned!

In the mean time…Let ‘er Buck!!!

Solitude On The Land Is My Solace Of Fall

30 Sep 2013 29 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Gratitude, Heritage, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, Ranch Life Tags: Family, Heritage, Holton Secret Lab, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Juniper T Ranch, Landscape, Life, Lifestyles, Photography

Solitude on the land is my solace of fall….

Every year this time I find myself reflecting on the harvest of summer as the seasons change and once again, silence falls like a veil of dignity on the land as it rests..

I love it as I love the quiet…the solitude of silence. I love walking out into God’s beautiful world. The land sleeps and yet when I walk it I can hear the stories of summer…stories of harvest and the history of family.

I grew up in a world of silence a third of the year, living on a remote cattle ranch in the mountains, without electricity, telephone, TV or even radio…the hectic life of the world disappeared and a new world of solitude became my life on the ranch. My world and daily life was my parents, our horses, the cattle and our cow dogs.

Life was simple. Get up. Go catch the horses, saddle up horses with Dad while Mom packed lunches into the saddle bags for us…follow Dad out of cow camp into the frosty meadow and head up Coleman Ridge…which was a mountain with a mountainous trail that we rode up…about half way up Coleman the trail disappeared. We had to pick a way to get to the top so we just zigzagged up the ridge breaking over into either the direction of Bear Creek or head off in the direction of Young Camp depending on which pastures we planned to gather and check.

If Dad chose for us to go towards Young Camp and on towards Jordan Creek, we rode a few more miles to get to Young Camp and then we rode over another ridge from Young Camp that dropped us into the Upper Jordan area. Riding down the ridge of Upper Jordan Creek, you got off your horse leading the way down the ridge to the bottom as it was steep with heavy under brush, loose rocks, rock walls and logs…you took it slow and easy zigzagging your way over logs and brush. If you ran into cattle, you shooed the cows out of the brush and pushed them along in front of you trying to get to the bottom. Once you hit the bottom, you stopped for them to get a drink, while keeping an eye on them in case one decided to make a mad dash, as usually there was always one that did. As soon as you could you drove them on up another ridge into Whiskey Creek or if you steered them a bit different into Brown Miller and Elk Mountain country.

After we got them settled for the night, we turned back towards home, cow camp, where Mom kept the home fires burning…we would get in just about dark and in time for dinner. Dad would say “We rode about 35 miles today Marcy, you did a good job with the cows, taking it slow.” After dinner and a couple of card games of double solitaire with Mom, I usually hit the hay as I knew we would be up early, saddling horses and heading out once again to check on more cattle to be sure they had plenty of water and good feed. Never a dull moment on a cattle ranch as each day was a new adventure filled with good memories:)

Life was simple. It was quiet and peaceful…solitude…I learned to survive being alone…doing without worldly stuff and things…one depended more on God and the incredible beauty of His sky…His land…His weather…His animals…and you expected less. Life was good. I miss it….I miss it a lot.

Stay tuned as I am working on my next Pendleton Round Up post:)

Behind The Scenes Of The Pendleton Round Up…Let’er Buck 2013!

23 Sep 2013 28 Comments

by Hot Rod Cowgirl in Heritage, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Photography, The Pendleton Round Up Tags: Heritage, Horses, Hot Rod Cowgirl, Let 'er Buck, Lifestyles, Photography, The Pendleton Round Up, Traditions

Behind The Scenes Of

The Pendleton Round Up…..Let ‘er Buck! 2013 Style!

This is the first of two blog entries on the rodeo this year…you know me…I take lots of pictures so hang tight, there is more to share!

This year marked the 103rd year of the Pendleton Round Up. We that live here are proud of our heritage and the years of participation in the rodeo, in a quiet little town called Pendleton.

I love capturing the life of rodeo in Pendleton and slack days a few days before the rodeo begins are perfect. It’s fun to capture the mood of slack, it’s sort of laid back but somewhat tense too as the arena crew and the contestants are getting the squeaks ironed out…the cowboys and cowgirls are more at ease and have the time to socially connect with the cowboy families and friends they see on the road.

This bronze plaque is below the bronze bucking horse at the main gate and explains the meaning of Let ‘er Buck and the classic image of the cowboy on the bucking horse. Double click on it and it will double in size to read it.

Often I will say, this year I’m going to take a break from attending the rodeo and go to the beach for the week…and then as August rolls into September…I begin to feel the magnetic pull of the yearly rodeo tradition. Heart felt memories return, flooding my heart with good stuff…stirring the spirit of Pendleton that I carry down deep in my soul, it’s part of what makes me who I am…next thing I know, I find myself at the rodeo once again celebrating with the crowd, the locals, my neighbors and friends.

The bronze Let ‘er Buck statue at the Round Up gate…a great work of art and incredible to see in person…things you see only in Pendleton!

As Round Up memories are stirred, the ones I cherish the most are the ones I have of Dad and I, such as taking our horses into the rodeo grounds before the rodeo and then bringing them home early Sunday morning after the rodeo was over. Or how Mom and Dad moved to town for the week to a hotel, with a swimming pool and I got to swim and skip school…oh geez I hope none of my teachers are reading this…I was really sick at home:) The parades that I rode in every year of my life until I was married…the Dress Up Parade which used to be at night and the Westward Ho Parade. As I grew up I was asked to be one of two pendent bearers for the Queen and Court…I loved doing that as we went to many parades out of town too and I had a western cowgirl jacket with matching slacks, hat and boots were dyed to match and had to wear my hair under a hair net in the same style the court had which was a neck length page-boy. Wish I had pictures of that!

Dad was a Round Up director on the board of directors from the time I was tiny, until he became President of the Round Up when I was 10-12. Here he celebrates his 50th birthday as President…his nick name was Terje, short for our last name Terjeson…his Grandfather was called Torje in Norway.

Memories of Dad when he was President of the Round Up…I got to meet Michael Landon, Little Joe from Bonanza…and see the Clydesdale horses up close and personal when they came…but the ultimate was seeing my Dad on his sorrel mare Gypsy in the arena running full blast chasing after the Queen and Court, riding hard and fast around the dirt track!

Mom and I were so proud of him! As you see I am still in the dorky stage of age…shortly after this I told Mom I would take care of my hair so I could grow it out…and I got a belt too!

The Presidents today continue the tradition, once the Queen and Court are introduced,

The court rides full blast around the arena waving…riding hard Let ‘er Buck style!

Then the President is introduced and he comes running out of one of the gates, chasing the Queen and Court around the arena track full-bore waving…

They all go out one of the gates…after two full laps of rodeo fun!

And the rodeo begins right away! It’s very cool to watch!

And lastly, memories of being a bored round-up kid…rodeo week was very long when you were a kid and you got tired of sitting all day everyday…often I would go over to the horse barn next to the rodeo stadium where our horses were, and get one out to groom, then hop on bareback and ride around the grounds. I loved spending time with my horses and I’m still horse crazy!

On Saturday of Round Up the jets do a fly over and oh boy is that cool…awesome and so very moving in your heart…I always get tears in my eyes as I am proud of the United States Military!

This picture is actually from the 100th year of Round Up when they formed a group of 100 flag bearers for the Westward Ho Parade…it made you dang proud of Pendleton and America!

The Round Up is the 5th season of the year around here, the directors and volunteers plan it all year long…the rodeo and all the celebrations last about a month…three weeks leading up to the rodeo and the actual rodeo the fourth week. As harvest winds down, you begin to feel the draw of the rodeo as memories come back to you…if you close your eyes, you can faintly hear the sounds of cowboys and livestock.

A time that is full of heritage and tradition…a time of honor and history…a time for old friends and families making new memories…its about life and good times filled with the memories of Round Up…the best rodeo there is in these parts…you won’t be disappointed!

It’s A Time To Let ‘er Buck!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Love you both…I’m holding down the fort and proud to be your girl!

The Tale Of A Wyoming Buffalo On Top Of Pinon Ridge…

Wyo Why Wyoming Oh My Wyoming!

Happy Thanksgiving From Hot Rod Cowgirl!

Dreams Call Softly…

New Beginnings And Speedy Lickety-Split Endings

Crimson Skies Of Amber Bring Golden Days Of Fall!

Life With Ms. Ellie, Horse Nuggets And Me!

The Pendleton Round Up…Round Two!

Solitude On The Land Is My Solace Of Fall

Behind The Scenes Of The Pendleton Round Up…Let’er Buck 2013!

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